Duct leakage is not only detrimental to energy efficiency, but also to indoor air quality (in terms of lower air change rates and ventilation efficiency in rooms), comfort, fire protection, noise, dust accumulation, moisture damage or even contamination issues. When … Continue reading →
To our knowledge, in Europe there is only the French qualification Qualibat 8721 for ductwork airtightness testers. In Sweden, there is a requirement for a mandatory inspection of the ventilation system (OVK) to be carried out by a certified expert … Continue reading →
In Europe, there are various quality frameworks to qualify building airtightness testers 1,2,3,4, including: Country Competent scheme operator Mandatory for testers? References Belgium (Flanders) BCCA Yes BCCA , [5] Czech Republic A.BD_CZ (Association Blower Door CZ) No A.BD_CZ Denmark DS certification ? Danske … Continue reading →
A calibration should be carried out by an ISO17025 accredited lab. Sometimes in some specific context it is allowed to have the calibration done by: a lab that has standards traceable to ISO17025 accredited calibrations the manufacturer the user of … Continue reading →
Overall most of products are tested according to EN12114 (air permeability of building components) or EN 1026 (airtightness of windows) either internally or externally. The most known way of certifying products is through Passive House Institute in Germany [1], the … Continue reading →
Poor building airtightness results in excessive air infiltration and resultant uncontrolled energy loss. The energy use increase is dependent on the infiltration flow rate and the amount of conditioning of the air that is necessary to achieve thermal comfort. The infiltration … Continue reading →
The ductwork airtightness test is made by attaching a measured airflow to the system and measure the static pressure inside. The idea is that the flow going in is the same as the leakage when the pressure is stable. The … Continue reading →
To improve the air tightness of existing air ducts, a method of sealing the ducts by applying a sealant using a spray atomizer was developed in the USA in the early 2000s and is now (since 2015) being used in … Continue reading →
Wind creates a heterogeneous pressure distribution around the building and induces a pressure difference between indoor and outdoor even when the fan is turned off. The impact of wind can be partly compensated by measuring and subtracting this zero-flow pressure and … Continue reading →
Duct tester systems designed to conduct air tightness tests on duct systems can sometimes be used to test building air tightness. The fans used in these systems have a much lower flow capacity than a standard blower door system, which means … Continue reading →
